Her Story
About Kathryn
Following graduate school, I took a leadership role in the DC city government, but I determined after that experience that I wanted to move on to being an entrepreneur. Through my entrepreneurial efforts, hustling and doing the best I could, I kind of landed in the right place, which led me into my most recent career path in real estate and software sales. It was really enjoyable because I didn't anticipate that direction. I've been working in this combined field for at least 17 to 18 years now. I've been with Curbio for 8 years, and I've been in my current role as Director of Sales for almost 2 years, which I consider my most notable professional achievement. My main area of expertise is sales. In my role, a typical day involves monitoring the health of the sales pipeline, verifying that folks are doing what they need to do on the ground to move things through from top of funnel to completed contract, coaching on sales techniques and strategies, looking into everything with training, verifying that people are hitting their metrics, and always following up on ensuring that we're forecasting properly to meet quota. All of those things are really critical because without sales, there's no back-end activities taking place. If a company can't sell something, they don't have any work to do.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kathryn
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice is that you really need to enjoy this. A sales position is one where you're facilitating choice. I am not a person that enjoys selling to someone - I think that's abhorrent. Really, what it should be is a consultative role. You're helping someone, you're setting some boundaries and guardrails so they can better themselves, their life, their situation, and then you can move in as a fiduciary and facilitate choice. That's how I view the sales industry, personally. I find a great deal of fulfillment in helping people achieve their goals.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Some current challenges I'm seeing are poor leadership at the upper levels. Folks are far too invested in making stockholders or the board happy. They're not invested in their employees or in helping folks reach their best potential. Watching that play out and recognizing the impact that will have on mine and future generations and their work ethic and their desire to achieve has really been very disappointing to see in the corporate world.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
You need to conduct yourself with integrity and dignity and professionalism. If you do those things, you will be respected, and you will have a team that understands it is a team. You really need to show up in that manner. I also have an understanding that everyone does have a life, and there needs to be a mutual respect there of understanding that this is a job. I grew up military and worked at embassies when I was younger, so I have an understanding of what is your role, what is it you're contributing, and I encourage everyone to move forward as a team. I think if you conduct yourself with integrity and dignity, things fall into place in the workplace.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · District of Columbia
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.